External graphics card for laptops

External graphics processing units eGPUs sound great. You can get desktop-quality graphics on a laptop, which means you only need one computer for portability and high-level gaming. But do they stand up against internal GPUs? Is it worth dropping a few hundred bucks on a dock?

Using one of the best external GPUs can boost your laptop performance, regardless of if you're trying to gain some frames in Apex Legends or make your Premiere Pro renders a little faster. A good GPU enclosure goes beyond being a box for your graphics card. Our picks come with enough power to feed hungry graphics cards without sacrificing efficiency, and they're cool and quiet, allowing you to game or create without distractions. The base model comes packed with an internal watt power supply and can fit up to a three-slot GPU. The more expensive Chroma model comes with a beautiful RGB underglow and boosts the power supply to W. Regardless of the model you choose, all you need is a single Thunderbolt 3 cable to hook up the enclosure.

External graphics card for laptops

Ultraportable laptops are great when you need to put together a presentation for work, crunch some numbers or binge-watch your favorite Netflix shows. But graphically taxing games and support for VR headsets are out of reach. Or are they? If you have a laptop with a Thunderbolt 3 port or one of the new Thunderbolt 4 ports , there's a good chance that you can attach an external GPU eGPU , providing all the benefits of an Nvidia or AMD graphics card, without carrying around a bulky notebook. There are even a couple of external boxes that play nice with MacBooks, so Mac lovers can also know the joys of super-high-res PC gaming. To help you find the best eGPU, we put some of the most popular models through rigorous testing. However, once you get past the initial sticker shock and the box's out-of-this-world looks, you get an eGPU that's easy to open with enough ports to support a sizable gaming battle station. Design: Asus sure knows how to put the "show" in showpiece. The front, top and right black plastic sides of the ROG XG Station 2 are stamped with thick lines meant to mimic circuitry gone wild. It gives the box a funky, futuristic chic that I can't get enough of. But the show really begins once a GPU is added and the box is connected to a laptop.

To have an effective one, you've got to get good storage, a nice processor, and likely throw in above-average RAM. The Core X eclipses both at

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Using one of the best external GPUs can boost your laptop performance, regardless of if you're trying to gain some frames in Apex Legends or make your Premiere Pro renders a little faster. A good GPU enclosure goes beyond being a box for your graphics card. Our picks come with enough power to feed hungry graphics cards without sacrificing efficiency, and they're cool and quiet, allowing you to game or create without distractions. The base model comes packed with an internal watt power supply and can fit up to a three-slot GPU. The more expensive Chroma model comes with a beautiful RGB underglow and boosts the power supply to W. Regardless of the model you choose, all you need is a single Thunderbolt 3 cable to hook up the enclosure.

External graphics card for laptops

Laptops, especially gaming laptops, are a study in compromises. Smaller machines are lighter and easier to travel with, but bigger, heavier boxes offer the dedicated graphics cards necessary for high-end gaming. An external graphics card let you have your cake no lie and eat it too. An external GPU or eGPU for short is a dedicated box that combines an open PCIe slot, a desktop-style power supply, and a full-sized graphics card that plugs into your laptop. When you do, you have gaming desktop power and connectivity without sacrificing those svelte modern laptop designs. This sort of thing has been attempted before, but recently there has been a rise in these products. The high data and video bandwidth in single-cable connections like USB 3. An extra bonus: a lot of external GPUs come with extra USB ports, Ethernet, and more, which means it's easy to plug and play with a ton of extra hardware, like multiple monitors or gaming keyboards and mice. At the moment, the de facto standard for this high-bandwidth operation is Thunderbolt 3.

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Jacob Roach is a writer covering computing and gaming at Digital Trends. If your budget allows for an eGPU laptop setup, go for it! The large handle in the back is non -intuitive, as my first inclination was to pull outward rather than push inward. Hurry up though, as the discounts may not last long. The Node Pro weighed And right now they're coming up via Best Buy's 3-Day Sale, an aptly named sale that lasts for Finally, several excellent external GPU options are available, depending on your budget and requirements. An external graphics card for a laptop can breathe life into older hardware, but remember; you'll still face restrictions from the laptop CPU, so don't speed heaps expecting a bonkers performance increase! Despite the drawbacks, external graphics cards do work. The only downside is that the Breakaway Box only supports dual-width graphics cards. Plus, the unit comes stock with a mm fan, adding a little more cooling potential.

So, if you are looking at getting an external graphics card, one of the options below should meet your needs. Value Pick: Akitio Node. Honorable Mentions.

Of course, your experience will vary depending on your hardware. The more expensive Chroma model comes with a beautiful RGB underglow and boosts the power supply to W. Regardless of the model you choose, all you need is a single Thunderbolt 3 cable to hook up the enclosure. Razer Core X. In that time, she's reviewed more than her share of laptops, tablets, smartphones and everything in between. Never one to rest on its laurels, Razer went back to the lab with the Core and came back with something bigger, more streamlined and affordable. Two metal lattices on the sides of the device make sure the GPU receives proper airflow. There are even a couple of external boxes that play nice with MacBooks, so Mac lovers can also know the joys of super-high-res PC gaming. And if you want to game on the go, the Aorus also comes with a little carrying case for stow-and-go convenience. External GPU hardware and software will continue to improve, and it's more than likely that external GPUs will continue to improve. Now, the Node Titan drops that weight to 7.